Hornbach Abbey (german: link=yes, Kloster Hornbach) is a former
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
founded around 741 in the historic town of Gamundias (today
Hornbach) by
Saint Pirmin
Saint Pirmin (latinized ''Pirminius'', born before 700 ( according to many sources), died November 3, 753 in Hornbach), was a Merovingian-era monk and missionary.
He founded or restored numerous monasteries in Alemannia (Swabia), especially in ...
, which soon became a
Benedictine abbey
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
. The most important neighbouring abbeys were
Bausendorf,
Saint-Avold
Saint-Avold (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Sänt Avuur'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
It is situated twenty-eight miles (45 km) east of Metz, France and seventeen miles (27 km) southwest ...
, Glandern,
Villers-Bettnach,
Fraulautern
Fraulautern is a district of Saarlouis in the Saarland region of Germany. In 1936, the village of Fraulautern was incorporated into the city of Saarlouis. It is also the source of the alternative name for Saarlouis, ''Saarlautern''. Fraulautern ha ...
,
Mettlach
Mettlach (Saarlandic dialect:Mettlich) is a municipality in the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany, situated on the river Saar, approximately northwest of Merzig, and south of Trier. The headquarters of Villeroy & Boch are in Mettlach. ...
,
Tholey
Tholey () is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately west of Sankt Wendel, and north of Saarbrücken.
History
Local history
The first traces of settlement in the area of today's Thol ...
, and the ''
stift
The term (; nl, sticht) is derived from the verb (to donate) and originally meant 'a donation'. Such donations usually comprised earning assets, originally landed estates with serfs defraying dues (originally often in kind) or with vassal tenan ...
'' of St. Arnual. The neighboring spiritual centers were
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
and
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...
. At present, all that remains of Hornbach Abbey are the structural remains of the convent buildings, which have been supplemented by a monastery museum, and a modern chapel with the historical tomb of the monastery's founder.
History
The village ''Gamundias'' had a Celtic and later a Roman settlement, each with a mountain sanctuary on the site on which the monastery would be built later; Roman coin finds prove Roman settlement from 496 AD.
Hornbach Abbey was part of the
diocese of Metz
The Diocese of Metz ( la, Dioecesis Metensis; french: Diocèse de Metz) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. In the Middle Ages it was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire, a ''de facto ...
. After the foundation of
Murbach Abbey
Murbach Abbey (french: Abbaye de Murbach) was a famous Benedictine monastery in Murbach, southern Alsace, in a valley at the foot of the Grand Ballon in the Vosges.
The monastery was founded in 727 by Eberhard, Count of Alsace, and established ...
in 727 by Count Eberhard (
Etichonids
The Etichonids were an important noble family, probably of Frankish, Burgundian or Visigothic origin, who ruled the Duchy of Alsace in the Early Middle Ages (7th–10th centuries). The dynasty is named for Eticho (also known as Aldarich), who r ...
), Pirmin came to Gamundias around 740/741. There Count Warnharius (
Widonids
The Widonids, also called Guidonids,; german: Guidonen or ; it, Guideschi or or Lambertiner, after their leading names, were an Italian family of Frankish origin prominent in the ninth century. They were descended from Guy of Nantes, whose or ...
, ancestors of the
Salians
The Salian Franks, also called the Salians (Latin: ''Salii''; Greek: Σάλιοι, ''Salioi''), were a northwestern subgroup of the early Franks who appear in the historical record in the fourth and fifth centuries. They lived west of the Lowe ...
) donated the construction of a Benedictine monastery; Sigibald († 741), Bishop of Metz signed the deed of foundation and confirmed the monastery. As a monastery owned by the Salians, Hornbach Abbey enjoyed extensive privileges. After his death in 753, Saint Pirmin was buried in the monastery. With the emergence of his cult of veneration, its importance increased, as can be seen from several rebuildings and extensions, as well as from numerous documents that mention a tax payment to the monastery. The saint's tomb was moved to the eastern apse; from 827 Pirmin was named – along with Peter – as the patron saint of Hornbach Abbey. Around 850 the monastery was in charge of Zell Abbey near
Worms Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany
Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...
, in the vicinity of which it also owned several churches and estates. In 1087,
Emperor Henry IV
Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son ...
gave Hornbach Abbey to the bishop of
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
,
Rüdiger Huzmann
Rüdiger Huzmann (died 22 February 1090) was a German religious leader who served as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Speyer from 1075 to his death. He was born into an old Speyer family with Salian dynasty, Salian connections and before became a c ...
. In the 11th century, a monumental
pillar basilica measuring 72 meters in length was built, which, in addition to the two apses, had five towers and a west building.
Emperor Henry V
Henry V (german: Heinrich V.; probably 11 August 1081 or 1086 – 23 May 1125, in Utrecht) was King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ru ...
granted the monastery the right to
mint coins
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins that can be used as currency.
The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. In the beginning, hammered coinage or cast coinage were the chief means of coin minting ...
, which was exercised until about 1230. In the 12th century the building was renovated. The monastery gave important impulses for the development in
Upper Lorraine
The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy.
It was founded in 959 following th ...
, which is documented in numerous village and estate foundings by the monks. When it came under the influence of the
County of Zweibrücken
The County of Zweibrücken (german: Grafschaft Zweibrücken) was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire named for Zweibrücken in the contemporary Land Rhineland-Palatinate. It was created in between 1182 and 1190 from an inheritance division of the ...
, its decline began.
In 1548 only three monks lived here and in 1557 – during the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
– Hornbach Abbey was finally abolished. The monastery assets, the current income and the monastery buildings were used to establish a state school, which was responsible for the education of new generations of
pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
s and higher
civil servants
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
needed in
Palatinate-Zweibrücken, or to prepare them for university studies. In 1631 the school was moved to
Zweibrücken
Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river.
Name
The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; olde ...
. Afterwards the unused building fell into disrepair. Wars also led to further destruction; in the
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...
, for example, French troops
slighted
Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...
the
crossing tower
A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church.
In a typically oriented church (especially of Romanesque and Gothic styles), the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, ...
of the basilica.
The Solothurn Central Library houses the so-called Hornbach Sacramentary, a
codex
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
of the 10th century, made by the Hornbach
scribe monk Eburnant on behalf of his abbot Adalbert (approx. 970 to 990). Another precious
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
preserved in Hornbach during the Middle Ages is the Codex Laudianus, a bilingual codex from around 600, which contains the
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...
in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
. It probably came to the continent with the British missionaries in the 8th century and came into the possession of
William Laud
William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...
("Laudian Acts", today
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
, Msc. Laud. Gr. 35) at the time of the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
.
Present-day significance
Since 2000 the majority of the preserved monastery remains have been integrated into a hotel complex, and a monastery museum ''Historama Kloster Hornbach'' was established in the basement of the building to convey the history of the monastery.
The relics of Saint Pirmin were brought to
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
in 1558 by the last abbot of Hornbach, Count Anton von Salm. From there they were brought to Innsbruck in 1575 by the former president of the ''
Reichskammergericht
The ''Reichskammergericht'' (; ; la, Iudicium imperii) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms. All legal ...
'' (Imperial Chamber Court) and now governor of
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
, Count Schweikhard von Helfenstein. Today they are still kept there, in a modern
shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...
of the
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...
Jesuit Church. After the rediscovery of the Hornbach original tomb on the former abbey grounds in 1953, some of the bones were returned from there. Today they are kept in Hornbach, Speyer and Pirmasens. The
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (german: Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz (Protestantische Landeskirche)) is a United Protestant church in parts of the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, endorsing both Lutheran and Calvinist o ...
, which owns the former abbey district, had a chapel built over the historic tomb in 1957, and it is now once again a place of
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
.
To the empty tomb some steps lead down, ending in front of a contoured
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
frame at the foot of the tomb niche. It is a window opening through which the pilgrims could touch the shrine of the saint. The tomb is considered the oldest known testimony of
ecclesiastical architecture
Church architecture refers to the architecture of buildings of churches, convents, seminaries etc. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly by borrowing other architectural styles as ...
in the
Palatinate.
Photo web page with picture of the tomb, the window and the steps.
References
Bibliography
* Richard Antoni (2002), Leben und Taten des Bischofs Pirmin, Die karolingische Vita (Reichenauer Texte und Bilder, 9), ed. Walter Berschin, Stuttgart: Mattes-Verlag.
* Stefan Flesch (1991), Die monastische Schriftkultur der Saargegend im Mittelalter (Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Saarländische Landesgeschichte und Volksforschung 20), Saarbrücken: Saarbrücker Drucker und Verleger
online
* Pia Heberer (2010), Das Kloster Hornbach in der Pfalz. Baugeschichte und Sakraltopographie, Mainz: Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz, Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe – Rheinland-Pfalz, .
* Franz Xaver Remling (1836), Urkundliche Geschichte der ehemaligen Abteien und Klöster im jetzigen Rheinbayern, Neustadt an der Haardt: Theil-Verlag, p. 53–87.
External links
* ttp://www.klosterstadt-hornbach.de/?Tourismus:Kloster_Hornbach Website of the municipality of Hornbach on the history of the monastery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hornbach Abbey
Benedictine monasteries in Germany
Buildings and structures in Südwestpfalz
Catholic pilgrimage sites
Christian monasteries established in the 8th century
Christianity in Rhineland-Palatinate
Church ruins in Germany
Former Christian monasteries in Germany
Heritage sites in Rhineland-Palatinate
Monasteries in Rhineland-Palatinate
Museums in Rhineland-Palatinate
Religious museums in Germany
Roman Catholic churches in Rhineland-Palatinate